Tiki Tiki

Just as I’d started to write this post, Lovely Girlfriend started singing “We are the tiki girls, we are the tiki girl. You are the tiki boys, you are the tiki boys at me” and it is now so firmly lodged in my head that I thought I’d share this joy with you.

Onwards with the actual post. We went to Colebrooke Row again. Surprised? No, me neither. This time it was for a Tiki masterclass. Strong rum cocktails and an over developed sense of kitsch? I’m not sure if that’s a description of me or the course. Either way, I had a fantastic time.

On arrival they made us a Daiquiri. Rum. Lime. Sugar. Done.

Nom.

We covered a bit of history and what Tiki drinks are. They are strong and citrusy, usually with some kind of syrup as a modifier. The on to our first drink to make. Of course it was a Mai Tai. Rum, Lime Juice. Triple Sec. Sugar (in this case actually almond syrup). Done. Nom.Being them, it wasn’t just one rum. To make it taste more like the original, they blended several different rums to rest with some angostura bitters and left them to rest for a few weeks. Very different to the ones I drank in Hawaii, and yet also the same. (Yes, I’ve been to Hawaii. I was there for being an astronomer reasons).

We then came to the mojito. Mojitos are great. Rum. Lime. Sugar. Mint and Soda. Done.

I love mojitos, but they’re often terrible. They can so easily taste like toothpaste because they’ve had way too much sugar added to the over muddled lime/mint. In the masterclass we made them using sugar syrup and some lime juice, so they didn’t need the muddling. They were much fresher and zingier as a result. Nom.

Now for the one I’d been waiting for. Zombie! Rum, rum, rum, rum and rum. Oh, and some absinth. It’s one of my favourite drinks and fits the very strong and citrus theme of the tiki drink very well. We put plenty of other flavours in too, including grenadine and cinnamon.

I somehow managed to be subtle with the absinth. You could tell it was there, but you couldn’t actually taste it. I’m not sure if I’m impressed with myself or not.

Next we hit the Piña Colada. Yes. I know. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the Piña Colada. It’s an abomination that should not exist and is an affront to all cocktails. If there’s one on a menu and I’m somewhere even resembling decent, I’ll almost certainly order one and enjoy it. They’re not made of rum, lime and sugar. Rum. Pineapple Juice. Coconut. More rum. Done. Except not. The barman taking the class said they’re difficult to do wrong. I beg to differ. The coconut oil can interact with the pineapple that can end up with them tasting of fish. This is very wrong. Thankfully this didn’t happen and I finished it before I even had a chance to take a photograph on it.

It all got a bit chaotic and this point and we ended up with a combination of frozen strawberry daiquiri and Singapore Slings. Both very nom.

It was a great course and the drinks were amaze. I’m not sure that Colebrooke Row is the best place for a Tiki cocktail masterclass though. Sublime drinks aside, it’s far too classy. The garnish and glassware just weren’t kitsch enough!